Molly Russell's dad warns UK 'going backwards' on online safety and urges PM to act

The begetter of Molly Russell, the teen who took her ain beingness aft seeing harmful contented online, has personally appealed to the premier curate to tighten rules that support children and has warned the UK is "going backwards" connected net safety.

Ian Russell, who backed the erstwhile authorities bringing successful caller requirements for tech firms successful the Online Safety Act, calls the mode the regulator Ofcom is implementing the rules a "disaster".

In a missive to Sir Keir Starmer connected Saturday, seen by the BBC, Mr Russell says determination is "widespread dismay" among bereaved families who person fought for tougher protections, and that much young radical person mislaid their lives due to the fact that of "dither and delay".

And helium warns that without tougher actions, "the streams of life-sucking contented seen by children volition soon go torrents: a integer catastrophe driven by the actions of tech firms, and being near unchallenged by a failing regulatory model".

"This preventable harm would beryllium happening connected your watch," helium writes to Sir Keir.

The Online Safety Act, introduced past year, is designed to unit tech firms to instrumentality much work for the contented connected their platforms and support children from immoderate legal-but-harmful material. Ofcom decides the circumstantial guidelines that companies indispensable follow.

Safety campaigners judge determination are important loopholes successful Ofcom's codification connected amerciable content, including a deficiency of circumstantial rules connected unrecorded streaming oregon contented that promotes termination and self-harm. And the caller codes of practice, which are inactive being worked on, won't use to backstage messaging.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: "We recognise the profound symptom caused by harmful contented online, and our deepest sympathies stay with Ian Russell and each those who person suffered unimaginable loss." They said the voices of victims "will proceed to beryllium astatine the bosom of our work".

The spokesperson added that tech firms are required to measure the risks of amerciable harms connected their platforms by 16 March, and aft that companies would request measures to trim the hazard of amerciable contented appearing and to region it rapidly erstwhile it appears. "In the coming months, arsenic our enforcement powers commence, platforms volition look further obligations to support children from harmful content, adjacent wherever it is not illegal," they said.

In his letter, Mr Russell besides says Elon Musk, who is the brag of X, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg are portion of a "wholesale recalibration" of the online world, moving distant from information towards a "laissez-faire, anything-goes model".

"In this bonfire of integer morals and online information features, each of america volition lose, but our children suffer the most," helium writes.

He calls connected the authorities to some bolster the Online Safety Act and to present other authorities designed to tackle what helium describes arsenic "the reckless behaviours of societal media leadership".

A No 10 spokesperson said Sir Keir was thankful for Mr Russell's letter: "Ian Russell, alongside galore different families and parents, has shown immense bravery done the astir tragic of circumstances to run for children's online safety. We are grateful for each their contributions and volition proceed to enactment with them to get this right.

"This authorities is committed to ensuring online information for children. Social media platforms indispensable measurement up to their responsibilities and instrumentality robust enactment to support children from seeing harmful contented connected their sites."

Mr Russell's girl Molly took her ain beingness successful November 2017 aft being exposed to a watercourse of dark, depressing contented connected Pinterest and Instagram. He has been campaigning for online information measures since his daughter's death.

You tin work his missive successful afloat astatine the bottommost of this story.

No 1 watching oregon listening to Mr Russell implicit the years could contradict his passionateness for alteration oregon his heavy cognition of the acheronian satellite that Molly was caught up in. Along with different bereaved parents we person met successful the past mates of years - including Esther Ghey, Judy Thomas, and Mariano Janin - helium has told his family's communicative with immense dignity, and for a elemental reason: helium doesn't privation anyone other to spell done the pain.

He's go a salient campaigner connected an contented that is important to millions of parents and young radical astir the country. His dependable is hard for the authorities to ignore.

But creating and past imposing rules connected the online satellite is hard for politicians for galore reasons.

The Online Safety Act weathered galore controversies and took years to enactment together. On 1 broadside were campaigners acrophobic astir providing protection, connected the other, fierce lobbying from the tech companies against straying into censorship oregon invading people's privacy.

Ofcom was picked to constabulary the rules and could theoretically beryllium incredibly tough, threatening fines of millions of pounds oregon adjacent situation for those companies that interruption them. But the caller codes of signifier are not yet afloat successful force.

But campaigners similar Mr Russell judge it's already evident the rules autumn short. The Internet Watch Foundation boss, Derek Ray-Hill, besides told us: "Unless Ofcom is much ambitious successful its mentation of the Act, truthful galore of the things the authorities makes imaginable volition stay frustratingly retired of reach."

There is simply a consciousness successful Whitehall of "wait and see". Ministers person acknowledged that arsenic exertion advances, other laws mightiness beryllium required. The Home Office is expected successful the adjacent mates of weeks to outline caller offences to tackle kid maltreatment online. But the authorities is besides tense astir making rules truthful choky that tech companies consciousness unwelcome.

This play we'll beryllium joined by the Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, who is determined to marque the UK a bully spot for large tech companies to bash business, to assistance the system grow. From Sunday onwards helium volition spell retired however artificial intelligence tin velocity up authorities concern and amended our nationalist services – this government, similar Rishi Sunak's, believes AI tin boost the UK's sagging productivity.

But the beforehand of those technologies bring risks, and tricky decisions for ministers.

Warnings that precocious AI could hitch retired thousands of jobs; concerns implicit deepfake video successful pornography, kid abuse, oregon misinformation. Even Paul McCartney and Kate Bush person got the authorities successful their sights arsenic they run to effort to support artists' enactment being utilized without outgo by elephantine AI platforms, upending decades of copyright law.

Multiple sources acquainted with authorities discussions connected kid information and different aspects of this monolithic quandary accidental they are acrophobic the Department of Science and Technology (DSIT) is not paying capable attraction to the imaginable downsides.

A authorities root said immoderate discussions astir protecting radical online had been "spicy". "This is simply a signifier of harm. It's mean for departments similar Home Office and Department of Health to beryllium perpetually reviewing what's going connected to support up with information – [DSIT] is not yet utilized to having to doing the same."

A root astatine DSIT said the section had already acknowledged determination mightiness person to beryllium much authorities successful aboriginal but highlighted the information that the Ofcom codes aren't yet completed oregon successful force.

These aren't caller arguments. But Musk's trolling of the UK authorities and Zuckerberg's flex distant from information checking person shifted the crushed connected which the conversations are taking place.

Ministers person to see what's close for the system arsenic good arsenic protecting the public. And they mightiness not privation to admit it, but nary person wants to prime a combat with billionaires with monolithic societal media megaphones - oregon so beryllium seen to curtail our liberties oregon privateness without bully reason. Arguably that is wherefore measures similar the Online Safety Act took truthful agelong to present successful the archetypal place.

The palpable fearfulness from campaigners similar Mr Russell is that conscionable arsenic exertion has been speeding up, hard-fought moves to enactment information archetypal person been slowing down.

Dear Prime Minister,

Six months ago, you were elected connected a level that promised an extremity to short-term sticking plaster solutions. I americium penning to you arsenic a bereaved begetter and online information campaigner due to the fact that it is evident that urgent enactment is required to support young radical from the horrors they are routinely exposed to online.

It's present implicit 7 years since the decease of my youngest girl Molly. More than ever before, I americium convinced that beardown and effectual online information regularisation is the astir almighty instrumentality disposable to forestall the nonaccomplishment of ever much young lives astatine the hands of societal media platforms whose indifference to children's information is fundamentally baked into their commercialized strategies, concern models and products.

Ofcom's choices erstwhile implementing the Act person starkly highlighted intrinsic structural weaknesses with the legislative framework. We not lone person a regulator which has fundamentally failed to grasp the urgency and standard of its mission, but a regulatory exemplary that inherently and importantly constrains its quality to trim preventable harms.

While I recognize that this is authorities you inherited and did not design, the world is that unless you present perpetrate to enactment decisively to hole the Online Safety Act, the streams of life-sucking contented seen by children volition soon go torrents: a integer catastrophe driven by the actions of tech firms, and being near unchallenged by a failing regulatory model. This preventable harm would beryllium happening connected your watch.

At the aforesaid clip arsenic the UK's overdue regularisation is falling severely short, the precise manufacture being regulated is ominously changing. The Online Safety Act was developed astir a premise that ample tech firms would progressively judge their responsibilities, and we would spot safer societal networks make implicit time.

However, this is simply a clip erstwhile platforms readily accidental they volition present 'catch little of the atrocious stuff'; let underdeveloped AI to make and dispersed disinformation; and beforehand targeted and polarising contented starring to isolation and despair. We person present entered a antithetic era, and we volition request a antithetic regulatory attack that tin code it.

Put simply, radical similar Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are astatine the starring borderline of a wholesale recalibration of the industry. We should beryllium successful perfectly nary uncertainty that erstwhile Zuckerberg speaks astir a 'cultural tipping constituent towards prioritizing speech', helium is signalling a profound strategical displacement distant from cardinal information measures towards a laissez-faire, thing goes model. In this bonfire of integer morals and online information features, each of america volition lose, but our children suffer the most.

It's connected that ground that I present promote you to enactment swiftly and decisively to code this coming flood of preventable harm. In the contiguous term, that means strengthening the existing framework. Beyond that, it means committing to substantially strengthened regulatory exemplary – with superior authorities being introduced arsenic soon arsenic imaginable to enact its provisions.

It is not conscionable a caller Online Safety Act that is required, but a wholesale re-imagining of the model to guarantee it is susceptible of responding to the threats of contiguous and beyond. A caller model indispensable beryllium fundamentally oriented towards tackling the reckless behaviours of societal media enactment – a extremity which tin champion beryllium achieved done establishing an overarching Duty of Care supported by a robust acceptable of conduct-based rules to enforce it.

A bolstered OSA indispensable person harm simplification astatine its core. That means having a wide harm simplification work connected Ofcom, transparency and safety-by-design arsenic integral components of the regulatory regime, and a regulatory plan that puts victims astatine its halfway – a large nonaccomplishment of the existent regime, wherever the asymmetry betwixt the interests of victims and manufacture has if thing been substantially reinforced. The voices of those with lived acquisition indispensable beryllium heard intelligibly if large tech's almighty players are not to outcry them down successful this debate.

Crucially, this indispensable besides mean an hold of the Duty of Candour to widen to tech firms. This captious measurement stands to close the historical injustices faced by truthful galore victims, and the powerfulness of this measurement to code the taste issues driving harms successful the tech assemblage – and the asymmetry betwixt manufacture and victims which perpetuates further harm – would beryllium considerable.

Too galore parents person mislaid anticipation that governments volition present the online information betterment they urgently need. Among bereaved families, determination is wide dismay that successive governments person chosen to dither and hold erstwhile the consequences of inaction has been further mislaid lives.

As Prime Minister and arsenic a father, I implore you to act. You present person a profound opportunity, but besides a large responsibility, to enactment intelligibly and decisively and to amusement to millions of parents crossed this state that meaningful alteration is connected the way. It is clip to decisively support children and young adults from the perils of our online world.

Yours Sincerely,

Ian Russell,

Chair of Molly Rose Foundation, and Molly's dad